23,000....what? No double entendres?
22,500....oh you are ***** kidding me? No swearing?!!!
150.....Well, 150 words Christmas speech...no politics. NO ******* politics??!!
Better start from scratch.
2017 has been, rather like 2016, a really awful year as far as I am concerned. I hang on just in case something good happens but let's see....
Zero CBO posting responses is about right and what I expect from dead fandom so that's normal. What really killed my comic book enthusiasm was not apathy but the sheer tsunami of lies coming from comic companies and creators. The whole phony SJW (Social Justice Warrior) 'war' used by vloggers on You Tube and bloggers online to try to boost their viewing or readers stats -and admitting it. And they were telling lies themselves. Blatant outright lies as well as taking statements totally out of context to make them an "SJW statement". And Marvel and its staff behaved so unprofessionally that it is no wonder the company lost record numbers of fans. Marvel just has no editors who know HOW to edit or run a company and writers that are just getting away with awful writing and ideas because...there are no real editors. That's it.
Name-calling writers, artists and editors who -almost unbelievably- returned the favour. The actual SJWs are what we used to call flamers and trolls but adopting the term SJW for what they do. Yeah, the internet has done comics a great service.
Image Comics. I wrote a couple critical pieces but each one highlighted the great books and what the company has done right over the years. Not rude. No obscenities just facts stated and referenced. Then I got three (3) DCMA copyright strikes because Image made infringement claims against me when there were no copyright images used. Oh, except in the two press releases Image sent me and which I posted....really.
Also, every comic related video I posted to You Tube got copyright strikes (and I know who was behind this) over videos containing no modern copyrighted material just Platinum-Silver Ages historical work and because I have under 10,000 subscribers there is no response to my challenging these complaints which is why I gave up making videos. I save hours of work but it is the comic fan who really wants to learn more about old comics that loses out.
I had it confirmed by three independent sources that there is an effort to prevent my attending conventions in the UK to sell my books -one source was a con organiser who told me it made a less stressful life for him if he just bowed to the bullies.
All of this and no sales and no finances. That really dented my comic enthusiasm. Look at the stats to the right and see how many fewer posts there were this year. I still gets lots of views per day but who am I posting for? I hear nothing from visitors here and that dents a lot more enthusiasm. I even stopped work on Green Skies and there are books ready to publish but I need to sell not add more books to the online store.
Odd that I have a far better feedback from vloggers than online.
I have gotten far more satisfaction -and mental recuperation- from writing my prose books and doing the research on those than anything comic related since 2014. I could quite honestly just continue writing books and staying sane. However, I have a room and cupboards filled with comics (apparently trying to sell rather than buy shows the real value...not a lot) and now two people have given me graphic novels for Christmas.
I do not hate comics...just most of the people involved in comics.
Black Tower has Phase II coming into operation in 2018 but I may drop all social media for anything other than publicity since none of it has so far resulted in sales just lots of grief and, talking to some comic creators who gave up social media and got on with what they do they tell me things have never been better.
I am not saying that I am going to be making more and more posts next year just that they will be selective because aftyer 20 years or so it is clear no one really cares what I write or say or publish: it's just a quick visit, read and go and a fine "f*** you for the free read!" No problem as it was my decision to get into comics but I just chose to be honest and open rather than pretending to be "the nice guy of comics" while stabbing everyone in the back and spreading poison online. So it's my fault!
We'll see how 2018 goes but right now I am more concerned with eating and paying bills.
I will leave it at that because....
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